4 must-try Bali restaurants

We spent four days in Sanur, Bali during a two week holiday around Indonesia last summer, dining on fresh seafood and sipping mojitos by the sea. Having grown up in the country, I have visited Bali many times, and always like to stay somewhere different to mix things up a bit and make each holiday as exciting as possible.

As my mom was coming along on this trip, we decided to stay in Sanur, which is one of the quieter beach towns in south Bali, and perfect for couples, families, and anyone looking for a laid-back and relaxing holiday. Sanur may be a lot tamer than Seminyak and the infamous Kuta, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a lot to offer, in terms of accommodation, activities, and the key ingredient to any amazing holiday, awesome food.

As Sanur was the first stop on our three-pronged Bali and Gili island adventure, we spent a lot of time in the pool at the hotel sipping on gin n’ juice – laidback.

Kidding, we mostly had mojitos and bintang beers. However, we did manage to rally ourselves enough to hit several restaurants during our stay, and below are my recommendations for eateries you don’t want to miss if you’re in the area. We also spent a few days in Ubud on our way off the island, and I would highly recommend that you take the time to visit several towns in Bali, as each place really does have it’s own magical appeal.

SANUR

Canang Kitchen and Bar – Pork Belly Pintxos and Be Guling Nasi Goreng

Pork belly pintxos with cabbage and apple

We came here based on Trip Advisor reviews, and to be brutally honest…. because we stumbled upon it in a fit of hanger (hunger + anger) which would have seen myself, my boyfriend and my mom viciously attacking each other with our words if we weren’t feed instantly. The reason for our visit doesn’t really matter though, as the food really does live up to the TA hype, not only the quality, taste, and presentation, but also pleasing prices to match.

We kicked off our meal with Pork Belly Pintxos, which came out as four individual bites of roasted pork belly, served on top of small pieces of toasted bread, with white and red cabbage, apple, coriander and a spicy sauce to boot. As we bit into the nibbles, we all agreed they were way better than we had expected, and eagerly started discussing what the mains would be like.

Be Guling Nasi Goreng is a pork lover’s dream – it’s the traditional Indonesian fried rice dish that everyone loves, but with one oink of a twist. All the condiments and sides are pork themed, and as a redblooded Danish female (we have more pigs than people in Denmark), I had to try this dish, obvs obvs.

Be Guling Nasi Goreng

Price: $$

Jack Fish – Grilled snapper, grouper, prawns, and squid

We found this beachside restaurant as we were wandering around outside our hotel looking for something less expensive and more authentic than what the 5 star resort had to offer (apologies for that very pretentious sentence).

Grilled prawns on the beach #ftw

The food on offer at Jack Fish was all seafood (surprise surprise), and you could choose between fresh fish, crab, prawns and even lobster, which they would grill up right in front of you as you sipped on a beer. We came here every single day for lunch after finding this place, and I would highly recommend you give it a try if you’re in the area. Even if you’re not – it’s worth traveling for!

Price: $

UBUD

Bebek Bengil, Dirty Duck Diner

Bebek Bengil (translated to Dirty Duck) is a beautiful restaurant in Ubud, Bali, established in 1990. Serving mainly Balinese duck dishes as well as other traditional Indonesian food, the story behind the name of the restaurant is that the owner of the establishment was having a hard time coming up with the name until a storm caused a group of dirty ducks to take shelter in the restaurant – and hence Bebek Bengil was born!

Price: $$

CasCades Restaurant

We went here for our engagement dinner, and it was a truly spectacular evening. The restaurant is set on the stunning cliff side, so you overlook rice terraces and rainforest whilst being served five star food and drink. We had the beef Wellington, and it was the best Wellington I’ve ever had. So good, in fact, that I didn’t take a single picture of the evening, so here’s a shot of the view instead.